BEING GOAN IN THE WEST � a Canadian
view
By Mark DeSouza, Toronto
Mark, born
in Toronto,
was 18 in 2001 and completing high school grade 12. He has never been to
Goa. This article first appeared in the Goan Overseas Digest
in 2001. Below are extracts.
--------------------------------------------
What does it mean to be
Goan?
The
Goan migrants are of different �strains� and
backgrounds, yet they share a common heritage. My dad's family is from
Karachi,
Pakistan,
while my mom's is from Mombasa,
Kenya.
Accent can be a key indicator of difference. The people from
Karachi
speak with an accent that is fairly characteristic of the Indian sub-continent,
whereas the Kenyan Goan accent is closer to the
British one. Obviously geographic location has influenced their tongue. Last
summer I was in England
and visited my cousins who grew up there. While my brother and I sport Canadian
accents, our cousins have strong British accents. Other lesser cultural
differences appear in choice of sports: I play ice hockey, the national sport of
Canada,
my cousins play soccer,
Britain's
national sport. I would assume that Goans growing up
in Australia
are likely to play rugby.
On Learning
Konkani
The
native tongue of Goa
is Konkani, but many Goans don't even speak the
language. In school I've learned French and German as secondary languages, not
Konkani. None of the young Goans I've ever encountered
speak Konkani.
At
the aforementioned Goan occasion, the director of
foreign languages proposed setting up board-funded language classes for Konkani.
People interested in Konkani were asked to sign up for classes. I myself did not feel inclined to sign
and I don't know how far the scheme has progressed. Though it would be an added
asset to be able to speak Konkani, there is really little concrete benefit to be
derived from learning the language. Every Goan speaks
English and conducts most of his/her business in English. It�s like learning
Latin today. Anyone who can speak it is well aware that it is no substitute for
the primary language of the country (English in my case). The truth is there is
little motivation or compelling need to learn Konkani.
I
have never been to Goa,
nor do I have any plans to do so in the immediate future. Visiting
Goa
would be a great experience, but to be honest, it is not exactly among my top
priorities. I mean you don't miss something you've never seen. But I do feel
loosely patriotic to Goa,
as I've been brought up with Goan people, am familiar
with Goan cuisine, etc.
Canadian Culture: what is it
?
There
are only three Goans in my class. I have very few
Goan acquaintances outside of my extended family. I do
not go out of my way to meet Goans. I have many
non-Goan friends. Most of my friends are second
generation Canadians whose parents are from
Europe,
Asia,
and other parts of the world.
Canadian
culture is difficult to define. The official Canadian policy is to regard
multiculturalism as a "mosaic", which basically means that
Canada
encourages the expression of different ethnic cultures.
Toronto
is the most multicultural city in the world. I interact with people from
different cultures all the time. My friends are from many diverse backgrounds.
No one limits themselves to mingling with people only of their own ethnic group.
Read more in webpage www.goacom.com/overseas-digest/goan.html
(Click Mark DeSouza there)
